Wimbledon runner-up Kevin Anderson gets his Shanghai Rolex Masters campaign underway on Wednesday when he squares off against the dangerous Mikhail Kukushkin.

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It was four years ago when Kevin Anderson suffered a second round defeat at the Shanghai Rolex Masters to Mikhail Kukushkin - can he avoid another loss to the flashy Kazakhstani player when the pair clash again on Wednesday?

One of the most professional players on tour when it comes to getting the most out of his game and preparing meticulously for each and every match, Anderson has done an outstanding job of maintaining his spot inside the top 10 for the last 12 months - an achievement which might not have seemed possible after he reached his maiden Grand Slam final at the U.S. Open last year. The South African had a bit of a letdown after New York and made little impact during Asia and the European indoor swing, and considering he had truckloads of points to defend when he returned to Flushing Meadows, Anderson would need big results elsewhere in order to remain in that elite bracket.

An opening round loss at the Australian Open to launch his 2018 season only fuelled belief that Anderson might be in for a difficult season, but the 32-year-old has been excellent ever since, registering a 38-15 record - highlighted by his stunning run to the Wimbledon final, where he came from two-sets-to-love down to beat Roger Federer and toppled John Isner in a six-and-a-half hour marathon before falling to Novak Djokovic. Anderson also made ATP Masters 1000 semi-finals in Canada and Madrid and quarter-finals in Indian Wells and Miami, while he also captured the New York Open title and finished runner-up at the ATP 500 event in Acapulco to Juan Martin del Potro.

All of those results have contributed to Anderson arriving in Shanghai as the World No. 8 and with a strong stranglehold on one of the eight qualifying spots for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in London - the showpiece event for the year’s best players that Anderson is attempting to qualify for the first time. Anderson doesn’t have the best record in Shanghai (he’s currently 8-8) and comes into the tournament on the back of a quarter-final defeat in Tokyo to Richard Gasquet, while he was eliminated in the second round of Shanghai last year by Jan-Lennard Struff.

Mikhail Kukushkin (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

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Meanwhile, Mikhail Kukushkin is playing the main draw of the Shanghai Rolex Masters for the first time since he beat Tommy Robredo and Anderson on his way to the Round of 16 all the way back in 2014, where he also took a set off World No. 1 Novak Djokovic before succumbing in three sets. Kukushkin’s only previous visit to Shanghai since that event and before this week was a first round qualifying loss to Michael Berrer in 2016, but the 30-year-old successfully navigated qualifying this time around, beating Feliciano Lopez and Matteo Berrettini without dropping a set, while he continued his great form in the first round of the main draw, defeating Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4 6-2.

One of the flattest and hardest hitters of a tennis ball on tour, Kukushkin doesn’t have much margin or room for error in his game - which is why he’s never been ranked higher than No. 46 in the world at 30 years of age - but when he gets it right, there’s no question he can play top 20 tennis. But the problem for Kukushkin is that he can only get it right for a few tournaments a season - will one of those events be Shanghai this week? With his lone ATP World Tour title coming in St. Petersburg all the way back in 2010, Kukushkin is one of those players that is consistently hanging around the 50-100 mark in the rankings (he’s currently No. 83), with the Kazakh posting a 17-18 record for 2018, highlighted by a semi-final in Eastbourne, a third round run at the U.S. Open and winning the strong Irving Challenger title.

As mentioned, Kukushkin beat Anderson in their first career meeting in Shanghai in 2014, but the South African has won their last three encounters - however all have gone to three sets, including two this year in Pune and Madrid. Kukushkin is a pure ball-striker when he’s in the zone and has the weapons to trouble Anderson, but consistency is an issue, while his serve doesn’t allow him as many free points. Anderson wasn’t at his best last week and that might open a window of opportunity for Kukushkin to land a third top 10 scalp of his career, but you’d still expect the World No. 8 to get the job done on Wednesday and move into the third round.